Het Piazza del Parlamento is located in central Rome, about halfway down the city’s main shopping street, Via del Corso. The square is dominated by the Palazzo di Montecitorio, seat of the Italian Parliament.
Piazza del Parlamento Rome
Useful information
District: Colonna. Public transportation: Bus: 116, 116T. Directions: Take the metro to the Barberini stop (line A) and then bus 116.
History
Where there is now one large square in the form of the Piazza del Parlamento, there used to be two – the section in front of Parliament, named after Gabriele D’Annunzio, and the Largo dell’Impresa. (The Impresa, the “Company,” was the Impresa del Lotto which used to have ts seat in the no longer existing Palazzo Conti).
What to see
At the beginning of the 20th century, the architect Ernesto Basile was commissioned to enlarge the Palazzo di Montecitorio and add an auditorium for the sessions of parliament. He ended up constructing an entire new building behind the original palazzo, on the side of the Piazza del Parlamento. The two marble statues were sculpted by Domenico Trentacoste.
Palazzo del Banco di Santo Spirito
The building on the corner of Via di Campo Marzio and Piazza del Parlamento was built in 1749 for the Augustinians of the Santa Maria del Popolo Church. To accomplish the construction, some older buildings needed to be demolished. Among the old foundations, the old obelisk of Psammetico II, brought to Rome by Emperor Augustus, which had been used as a sundial and is now placed in the Piazza di Montecitorio, was found. A rather pompous plaque above the front door of the building refers to this find.
In 1870, it was seized by the Italian State and sold. A later renovation did not substantially change the structure. It has two facades, one on the Via di Campo Marzio and the other one on the square itself.